Through his writing, teaching, and work with the San Francisco Zen Center and University of California, San Francisco, BJ Miller has spearheaded a nationwide effort to change the way we think about and approach death and dying. Please support our institution and these productions by making a tax-deductible contribution.
#Pico iyer the art of stillness npr free
Library Binding, Large Print (November 1st, 2018): $41.We've made a recording of this event free to all.“Packed with love, pain, and guilt, but above all, a meditation on the legacies we leave behind.” - BookPage A suspenseful tale that reveals the deepest recesses of human lives, hopes, and dashed dreams.” -Jim Ewing, Mississippi Clarion Ledger Ackerman displays his writing craft magnificently. “ Eden is a masterful work, haunting and enduring. A deeply touching exploration of resentment, longing, and loss.” - Publishers Weekly (starred) A deeply moving portrayal of how grief can begin even while our loved ones still cling to life. “With sparse prose and a deft pen, Ackerman writes a profound meditation on the liminal space between our past, present, and future.” - Library Journal (starred) Part mystery, part thriller, part unconventional love story, Waiting for Eden explores with gravity and sensitivity the profound questions of love and fidelity, duty and honor, and how one creates a life worth living.” -Julia Tagliere, Washington Independent Review of Books Extraordinary.” -Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds and A Shout in the Ruins This is a devastatingly sad and compassionate piece of work. It’s a bold, ambitious project even in its most quiet moments, for it asks no less than where we draw the line around the inherent value of human life. His sentences are elegant in their concision and directness, and they reveal as much about grief, love, and our duties to each other as any book I can recall reading. “With Waiting for Eden, Elliot Ackerman tells a story that cuts straight to the heart of the human condition. “Ackerman further shows himself to be the Tim O’Brien of our era.” - Vogue Ultimately hopeful.” -Erin Vanderhoof, Vanity Fair Part of a long tradition of slim novels that take place almost entirely on Christmas, stretching back to Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Ackerman’s spare but vivid prose conveys everything it needs to convey.” -Michael Upchurch, Boston Globe Ackerman’s novel quietly suggests that America itself is a ghost story, and we are all in the act of waiting for Eden.” -Brian Turner, Washington Post “A classic triangle story of love and friendship, a ghost story, a captivity narrative, and a study of human endurance. “A slim heartbreaker about a war veteran who reflects on his troubled, secretive marriage.” - Entertainment Weekly To identify this book as a novel seems inadequate: Waiting for Eden is a sculpture chiseled from the rarest slab of life experience.” -Anthony Swofford, New York Times Book Review The micro-level power of his unadorned and direct prose lies in no less than an attempt to contain and dramatize the darkness and light of our souls. Ackerman explore conflicted, confused true love in such elegant and humane ways that you will come to question everything you think you know about the meanings of romance and fidelity. of Speculation have created similarly shimmering portraits of humans at rest and fury. Rachel Cusk’s Outline trilogy and Jenny Offill’s Dept. In his short novel, Ackerman accomplishes what a mountain of maximalist books have rarely delivered over tens of thousands of pages and a few decades: He makes pure character-based literary art, dedicated only to deeply human storytelling. Patiently, and unflinchingly, Ackerman is becoming one of the great poet laureates of America’s tragic adventurism across the globe.” –Pico Iyer, author of The Art of Stillness “How often does one encounter a novel as perfectly shaped, as fresh, as subtle and as explosive as this? I couldn’t turn away from Elliot Ackerman’s latest taut wonder, and when I got to the final page, I wanted to start all over again, in the light of the haunting last words. “Devastating.” -Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal “Heart-wrenching.” -Rachel Martin, Morning Edition/NPR